Keep your baby with you—it’s best for you, your baby, and breastfeeding.

Childbirth educators and other birth professionals, please feel free to share ideas in the comments section about how to use these materials in your classes and other interactions with expectant women.

This is great news! I’ve already put the videos on my website, easily reached from a link on the main page. The process was simple; the “embed” code is already written and ready to add. Used this way, the videos are available even to someone who is “just looking” for childbirth education or doula support. Although I currently devote solid time in my classes to the six practices and distribute handouts, the new pdf files are more concise and inviting to read than the “old” ones. My students will be encouraged to take them home to read each one as they watch each video.

I will be using these videos as homework for my students, and using some of the handouts in class. But I have to say that I was disappointed by the video of upright pushing – there is footage of women pushing in the typical hospital bed semi-reclining position. Why even show it?

I’m interested to hear what others think. There are a few images of that position, but also the entire range including upright sitting, squatting, kneeling, standing, and side-lying. (I would have loved to see some hands and knees, which is the position I favored both as a birthing woman and as a midwife.) The most important factor safety-wise is for the woman not to be flat on her back. Hyperextending the woman’s legs is also harmful. I think the biggest harm of semi-sitting may be that it provides such ready access for an episiotomy – but that harm can be mitigated by choosing a provider who doesn’t use episiotomy (rate well under 5%). What else concerned you about showing this position?